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And indeed... Missing persons, corpses in Fogs Forest, and animal bites, all on the neck and throat.

I was probably a freak, but I no longer bought what the police were trying to make the people in this town believe.

Something had murdered my brother.

I stared intently at the thin red strips of tape on my evidence wall.

There was no way I could leave yet. Not until I found out the truth, even though I wasn't sure I wanted to know it.

“Whatever attacked you, Ezra. I'm going to find it.”

Chapter 58

Julie

Phenomena

Yeah Yeah Yeah

“What the hell is going on over there?” asked Bayla from the panoramic window of the dining area, staring out across the pond, three houses away, where colorful lights flickered through every window to the beat of bass audible from here. Girls came and went, smoked in groups on the boardwalk in front of the door, consumed drinks from red cups, and hung in each other's arms, laughing.

“That's normal when Vivienna throws a party somewhere,” I explained, leaning back further into the couch, glad to finally be wearing my comfortable pastel blue sweatshirt.

Buddy laid his head on my stomach, as he often did, and closed his eyes.

I, too, had been overcome by tiredness lately, and now was no exception, but I tried to keep my eyes open and relax my aching back.

“Are they seriously calling themselves The Vanderwood Exclusives?” Emely grumbled unenthusiastically from the couch across from us.

Until now, she had been poring over her law books and hadn't exchanged a word with us all day. Now she seemed to be on social media.

She, too, was wearing more comfortable clothes than usual. Black sweatpants and a black Vanderwood hoodie.

“Let them do what they want,” Bayla snorted. “I don't even want to know what's going on when only Quatura girls are invited.” She turned away from the window and came over to us to sit down in one of the cream-colored leather armchairs. “Probably some kind of sick summoning.”

I pricked up my ears.

“They're not capable of something like that,” I explained to Bayla. “They have elemental powers. And none of them probably know the word Umbra.”

The Circle had gone to great lengths to keep the dark practices away from us. I would never have known about its existence if I hadn’t been there at the age of nine when they had caught an Earth Quatra with an Umbra book in Moenia, knocked the old woman to the ground, and arrested her before they had set the book on fire on the spot.

“That's enough,” came a voice from the stairs, where Larissa appeared in a black lace tank top and black jeans. “I don't want to hear another word about those stupid goats.” She looked from Emely to me. “Or another word about magic.” She spread both arms in the air and grinned broadly. “We have the house to ourselves! You know what? We should throw the baby shower now!”

I looked up in surprise, definitely too exhausted for a baby shower.

All I wanted was to continue texting Erik and pretend that all my problems didn’t exist.

Since we had started texting again, I was feeling better. I had even forgotten to take Salma this morning and almost missed my first lecture because we had been debating whether Prometheus was more of a rebel or a traitor in the creation of man, until Erik had wished that Harmonia would accompany me today.

Just like back then.

“I mean, how often do you get twins?” Larissa blurted out as she rushed into the living room.

She herself was a twin, just like Emely, my father, and Quentin. It was as if a curse hung over Blairville.

Emely jumped up from the couch, startled.

“Smile!” Larissa exclaimed, and less than a second later, the flash went off.